A friend of mine gave me a "scoby", the starter used to make kombucha. I've gone ahead and stuck it into a batch of sweetened black tea and it's in the dining room (which stays relatively dark most of the day), fermenting away. After four days, there's an appropriately yucky-looking gelatinous mat forming on the surface and a nice, yeasty smell.

Love Kombucha but yeah it is pretty creepy looking. I've taken to making lacto fermented lemon/lime aid since that doesn't freak the family out. And the floaties are less scary. And it only takes a few days.

I went ahead and pulled the "mushroom" out of the kombucha this evening. It all ended up working quite well. I could have left it fermenting for another couple of days - there's a little sweetness left in this batch. It's very tasty, though, with a nice sour edge and no off flavors or odors.

Jason is correct - this is pretty scary-looking stuff. I didn't bother with a photo of it before I bottled it. You would have all thought I was insane to put any part of this concoction into my mouth.

I posted several weeks ago about starting to make my own kombucha. I can now say I feel quite proficient - I started with 2 scobys and they have grown and multiplied and now I am fermenting with seven of them! Although plain kombucha is tasty, I love flavoring mine with juices. My favorite flavors right now are fresh watermelon, pineapple and black currant. I also have some ginger syrup that I have added to the pineapple and watermelon for a nice kick. So easy to do and so much cheaper than buying it in the store!

I always add any flavoring juices after the initial fermentation. I add a small amount of juice at the time of bottling. I like my kombucha quite dry, so the juice gives extra sugar to the yeast when bottled to create CO2, cuz nobody wants flat kombucha!